AP News, September 28th, 2007
Lebanese presidential elections must be free of violence and foreign interference, the U.N. Security Council said Thursday, joining an international chorus pressuring the Arab country's rival political forces to advance a process whose delay could split Lebanon apart.
The council's press statement was the latest effort by regional countries and others to encourage Lebanese lawmakers to sideline differences after the Lebanese parliament failed Tuesday to elect a president because of a boycott by the Sryian-backed opposition, led by the Shiite militant group Hezbollah.
Discussions gained momentum Thursday, but the pro-government camp and the opposition remained far apart in agreeing on a candidate acceptable to all, and the parliament put off another session on the issue until Oct. 23.
The attempt to choose President Emile Lahoud's successor before he steps down on Nov. 24 has become a struggle between the anti-Syrian coalition, led by U.S.-backed Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, and the opposition, led by the Shiite Muslim militant group Hezbollah.
The political stalemate has worried many, with the main concern being that a failure to reach consensus on a new president will leave Lebanon with two rival governments. This occurred in the last two years of the country's 15-year civil war, when army units loyal to rival administrations battled each other.
The Security Council called for free and fair elections "without any foreign interference ... and in an atmosphere free of violence, fear and intimidation," said the statement, read by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, whose country holds the council's rotating presidency this month.
More than 15 declared or undeclared candidates are vying for the post of president, three of them members of the pro-government camp and one from the opposition.
Nabih Berri, the opposition-aligned parliament speaker, said in a statement carried by Lebanon's official news agency, that it was "not the business of the Security Council to interfere in what is the business of the Lebanese parliament."
"The more people are imposed upon, the more they and the Security Council just get exhausted," said Berri, who has been leading an effort to bring the two sides to an agreement.
But the council has not been alone in voicing concerns. A communique issued by late Wednesday by the foreign ministers of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and France, and the Arab League's secretary-general, said the timeframe for electing a new president laid out in Lebanon's constitution must be respected.
Syria is routinely accused by the U.S. and others of being Lebanon's proxy ruler and of fomenting instability in the country. It has been accused by many in a series of assassinations of top Lebanese officials.
The U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Zalmay Khalilzad, announced Thursday that Washington would contribute $5 million to the start-up costs of an international tribunal looking into the assassinations.
The funds reflect "our commitment to the process of accountability for political murder and assassination that has taken place in Lebanon," he said.
